Press release

November 2014, Phnom Penh – By patronizing and using fuel-efficient improved cookstoves, the people of Cambodia – approximately more than 800,000 individuals who had repeatedly purchased and used GERES’ New Lao Stove between 2003 and 2013 – had collectively financed a national biomass energy strategy developed and implemented by the Ministry of Mines and Energy in collaboration with GERES and multiple donors.

On 20 May, at the Austrian Embassy in Paris, GERES was awarded the Energy Globe Award for its work in Morocco over the last six years disseminating efficient gas ovens as an alternative to the intensive use of charcoal, which is responsible for the country’s deforestation

Phnom Penh, May 27th 2014 – Sustainable Green Fuel Enterprise (SGFE), a Cambodian social business which produces char-briquettes out of recycled waste, got rewarded by the prestigious International Ashden Award. An outstanding recognition for this innovative project launched in 2008 by two French NGOs: GERES and PSE. Thanks to this prize, SGFE hopes to continue its development and maximize its social and environmental impacts.

When the term sustainable development is used, it means that social, environmental and economic aspects must be taken into account.By transferring an activity to the private sector, GERES focuses on the economic component and helps private enterprises to ensure the continuity of the technical solutions being developed. Introduced at the end of 2012, this concept is included in the design of ongoing projects and involves supporting social entrepreneurs who wish to use GERES technologies in their businesses.

On 23 January 2014, the ALTERRE Mali team inaugurated two Jatropha oil production units in the Yorosso and Koury municipalities, in south-eastern Mali. With Malian Ministry of Energy representatives presiding over the inauguration, it proved very successful and was greeted with enthusiasm by the technical and financial partners, local authorities and community, who turned out in force to visit the units.

The climate conference once again left a bitter taste in the mouths of those who followed the progress of the negotiations. Maybe a more “positive” mobilization would yield a more effective strategy for achieving an ambitious agreement?

Poland will be hosting the 19th Global Climate Change Conference (COP 19) from 11 to 22 November. As leader of the Climate and Development Committee of Coordination SUD, GERES is sending a 3-person delegation to Warsaw. Their role will be to monitor the negotiations and facilitate two round tables in preparation for the major conference in Paris in 2015 which should see the signature of a new global agreement.

The French Development Agency (AFD), represented by Grégory Clemente, and the NGO GERES, represented by Alain Guinebault, signed a funding agreement on 18 September with Jean-Michel Marlaud, the French ambassador in Afghanistan, in the amount of €10 million, to carry out a four-year rural development programme in central Afghanistan.

As part of the 2013 Energy Festival, the Pays d’Aubagne et de l’Etoile Energy Information Centre will be presenting a mobile display on the theme of thermal insulation on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 October 2013. This flagship event will serve as an entertaining means for the public to learn about ways to save energy.

Aubagne, 9 September 2013.
Long neglected, access to energy is now recognized as key to human development. Convinced of the importance of meeting the global challenge of access to energy for all, GERES looks forward to seeing you at the Convergences forum on 18 September 2013 at the side event on Energy Access in Africa, organized jointly with the NGO Africa Express.

At 6 p.m. on Tuesday 10 September, GERES, PEPPERMINT and their partners will inaugurate a local composting site made available by the council in the old town of Meyrargues. Some 30 residents have volunteered to compost their kitchen waste together or experiment with vermicomposting.

GERES is invited to participate in the Bonn International Cooking Energy Forum from June 26th to 28th and will be introducing StovePlus, an ambitious program aimed at tackling energy poverty in Asia and Africa.

A milestone for all the NGO’s around the world working on improving the wood and charcoal cooking devices: the New Lao Stove (NLS) introduced in Cambodia by GERES in 2003, has just celebrated the production of stove n°2,000,000.